Sparks Lead to Flames
by Fyrin Sparks
Summary: Helen Sparks has always been curious. And if she didn't resolve that curiosity, it could eat her up, like a flame inside. So when she started to feel that familiar burn in her gut, she had to know. She had to know it ALL. But maybe, just maybe, she should have left this one alone. This is set after Avengers, not including Thor: The Dark World. I won't tell pairings, suspense.
1. Prelude

**Hiya! Fyrin here! This is just a prelude, but greater things to come! If you want a more clear summary, let me know, and I'll explain it more with as few spoilers as I can manage. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers, or anything of Marvel make for that matter, but it would be fan-freaking-tastic if I did. **

He wondered how long it would take. How many years, how many _millennia, _before Odin decided his debt was paid. How many interrogations, where the interrogators refused to listed to the truth, just because they couldn't understand it? It was far easier for them to label it all a trick. A lie. A trap or a scheme conducted by the greatest liar and schemer of them all. Loki. Loki Laufeyson, God of Mischief and Lies, Silvertongue, and Master of Magic. The great Trickster himself was currently sitting on the floor of his cell, his back to the plain cement wall. There was a bed of course, and a chair, but he preferred this. The chill helped to ground him. To remind him that this was real, and not another delusion.

He rocked his head back, until it rested against the wall. He'd been here for what seems like an eternity, it was hard to tell. It could have been months, or moments, he knew not. So he just sat. Sat and waited and regretted. He didn't know what he was waiting for exactly. Perhaps, just perhaps, the great Manipulator was waiting for someone who _believed. _


	2. Welcome to My Humble Abode

**Sorry, no dialogue in this one. But I still think it's good. Sorry for the lack of an Authors notes thing in the Prologue, I'm still getting used to this. **

**Disclaimer, I don't own the Avengers, but I sure as hell do own my character. **

Another day, and almost time for another security check. It had been almost nine years since I'd left SHIELD, and yet people _still_ looked. I mean, I could sort of understand, but at some point they had to close the file and stamp it with big ol' letters saying, "PRESUMED DEAD" or hell, I'd take "MISSING IN ACTION". I was supposed to be _dead._ I fell off a waterfall into _rocks _for God's sake! And yet I was still hunted for. In the Sahara of all places! Why would they think that after being stationed repeatedly in the Middle East for bad behavior I would want to be there.

I sighed and walked around the kitchen, reaching for the largest mug I owned. I filled it as much as I possibly could with tea. Anyway, on my way out of the kitchen I grabbed two oranges and the last handful of cherries. Yum, breakfast. Devouring those rather quickly, I made my way into the security room. Otherwise known as, the room full of the dangerous shit. Guns, knives, swords, you name it, I've got it. Along with a rather wonderful collection of computers. My security system. I ran the usual checks on the perimeter of cameras, including a fast forward of the footage from last night, and checked that none of my traps had been tripped. The traps themselves, and the cages they led to, where completely free of swearing, violent men and women, with no signs of tampering. Good, must have been a quiet night.

Now to catch up on the news. I ran through all the major news sites, placing my mug down on the nearest stack of files, notebooks and textbooks near me. Nothing major, more tabloids on the Avengers and the battle of NY City that was a few weeks ago. Apparently, still no news on their whereabouts. Well, on to the more... valuable... news sources. I turned to the monitors that were eternally 'logged' into the more secure data bases. NATO, CIA, MI6, FBI, some crime syndicates, and of course, SHIELD. I was relentless in penetrating deeper into their data.

However, when I first started, I found I didn't _understand_ half the notes given. And while the average agent in SHIELD might be fine with that, I sure as hell wasn't. So, that meant studying. A _lot._ I'm still learning, I have to in order to stay ahead. I couldn't risk being a step behind, because that meant being caught, and either being killed, or being forced back into the business.

Huh. There was an encrypted file I hadn't noticed before. I knew that coding... Damn. Fury. What was so important that the great Director Nick Fury had to encrypt himself? Well, time to find out? No, not yet. Knowing me, I'd get sucked in and then keep going through night and day without eating, drinking, showering or working out. So those things come first.

Lots of slashed, punched, kicked, shot and generally abused dummies later, I settled down with a tray full of food and drink, pixie hair cut still dripping from the shower. Right, time to dive in. Cracking my neck, I put my fingers to the keys, and started to type.

In case any of you actually care about me, I'll give you a full report. The name is Sparks, Hellen Sparks. Code name, Hell Fire. Former Agent of SHIELD. Deceased on 5, November 2004. Allegedly. I'm 5'6'', thin, wiry and have eyes that refuse to remain one color. I'm 52, but for reasons beyond my control or understanding, I stopped aging at 22. I'm American, but my accent is, shall we say, flexible. I've got hair that is currently a bright blue, but that it subject to change. I've been at my current location for almost two years, and am planning on moving back to base in NY City within days.

Right, back to the files. Well, after about five hours of furious typing, get it? _Furi_ous?, I was rewarded with a single file named, The Avengers. Well shit. Of course, of freaking _course_ the Avengers are SHIELD. They have SHIELD written all over them! I knew Black Widow and Hawkeye where SHIELD, but I thought that SHIELD was uninterested. Why, I thought that, I don't know?! Can't a girl have some hope? Pushing those thoughts aside, I clicked the file, and started reading.


	3. Curiosity Lights the Match

**Hey, I know, I lied about when I'd get this chapter up, I'm sorry. So here it is, a day late. I'm not as happy with this as I am with my other work, but I'll try to make it better, yeah?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ANYTHING Marvel, but I do own Hellen Sparks.**

As soon as I clicked onto that file, I was bombarded with information. Reports, pictures, audio files, video, surveillance, everything you could ever want to know about the Avengers was in here. It was _way_ to much to read unorganized. Another flurry of typing later and all of the information was in chronological order, start to finish. I leaned my head against my hand, gripping at my hair, and started to read.

- 7 hours later -

There's something missing. I've been pouring over these files for as long as I could without hallucinating, analyzed everything that I could in one sitting, with as much detail as I could. And something was off. I scanned through the files once again, attempting to place the problem. Oh. Of course. It wasn't any of the actual Avengers, there was loads on them. Tons of information going back as long as I wanted. I mean, sure some of the stuff like the Red Room and Tony Starks formulas where 'encrypted' but they weren't anymore!

The problem was Loki. Loki and the Tesseract. There just wasn't enough information! With all of the others, I had personal narratives, phycology reports, medical records, first hand accounts by partners and parents, the works. I even had audio of their discussions over the comm units. I could understand them, the way they thought, why they thought that way, everything that made them into the person that they are today.

But with Loki, I had next to nothing. Even with Thor, there where enough accounts on him by Jane Foster and others that the lack of information wasn't as profound. With Loki, I knew the mythology, but that wasn't enough. All that spoke of was his days when he was emotionally stable, sane, and with a penchant for mischief. There was a huge gap however, between the Loki I knew and admired from the myths and the power-hungry egotistical maniac that had attempted to enslave the Earth. I needed to know that happened in that gap. Did he go to war? Did he almost die? Was he tortured? Did he fall in love and have his heart broken brutally? I had to know these things.

I could feel the flames starting up again. The flames of curiosity, frankly, I could go freaking rabid over a lack of info. It's one of the reasons I was named Hell Fire. Because I when I get a passion, a _need _it burns me up, and if you are the target that started that thing, I would burn relentlessly until your heart was in my hands. And then there's the _other_ thing, but they, and I, don't mention that. Ever.

I also needed more information on the Tesseract. What was Phase 2? Why was it terminated? That was so deeply encrypted it would take even me a few days with better equipment to crack. Some of the information I could get from the SHIELD data base, but I needed to question some people personally. Dr. Selvig, for one. Captain-freaking-America for another. They were the ones that had the most experience with the cube. Hell, to get the answers to all of the questions I had, it was going to be tricky. Some of them could only be answered by Loki himself, and the others, well, I'm not sure how easy it would be to interrogate the Avengers, not to mention SHIELD.

This was a shit plan. Frankly, it would be nearly impossible to do all I needed to and not get caught out by SHIELD. Or the others that are hunting for my blood. Some agent or Avenger could recognize me somehow from SHIELD records, even though I was pretty damn sure I looked _nothing _like I used to, I could get caught, I could be killed. But you know what? Screw it. I was going to try anyway.

First things first, how do I get the Avengers out of hiding? SHIELD knows where they are, that much is obvious, but it looks like they're purposefully keeping it off record. I'd have to lure them out. How?

Wait. Rewind. I turned back to my monitors. Monitors full of information. _Classified _information. On the Avengers. A slow and frankly demonic smile creeped its way onto my face. This could work.


	4. First Move is Made

**Hey, I think I'm going to try and update every-other day, or at least as frequently as I can. I do like this chapter a lot more, but that's just my opinion.**

**Disclaimer; I don't own anything Marvel, including the Avengers. I do own James however.**

"Mr. Fury sir?" The young agent was nervous. That was good. It meant that he respected, and slightly feared the Director. It also meant he wouldn't linger and outstay his welcome.

Nick Fury turned to the young agent and barked, "What in the hell do you people want now? I'm busy with some shit right now not to mention the Council is getting on my ass _again _about finding the Avengers," Here Fury paused for an irritated breath. Even his _breath _was irritated at this point, "So what the hell do you want?"

The agent's name was James. James had been working at SHIELD for a grand total of three weeks. Before that, he had been a young prodigy in the world of computer science. He'd never done a job of this kind before, and because of that, he'd been given a kind of shit assignment. However, he was too nervous to complain about how below his skill level it was. His day was not going as planned. He was hoping that he could just work a little magic with the computers, maybe possibly show his superior that just because he wasn't used to the reason he was researching and digging, didn't mean he couldn't do it better than anyone.

His plan had worked. Just not with the results he'd intended. And now his superior had asked him to report his 'miracle find' to the Director. The spy of all spies. Nick mother-fucking Fury. So yeah, he was a tad bit nervous.

"Um..." Fury merely glared, arching one eyebrow. James recovered his words quickly, "I was assigned to research through the web for anything regarding the Avengers that we didn't put there. And well..." James swallowed, and his throat seemed very dry all of a sudden.

"Well _what _Agent?" Fury demanded, he was getting impatient.

"Well sir, I found something. A _lot _of something. And I reported it to my superior right away, and she said I should give a report but since it technically isn't even live yet and it is such a lot of something I figured it might be best just to show you and I told her that and she agreed so then I came to find you and-" Here Fury threw up his hand to stop his nervous and frankly almost squeaky rambling.

"Just _show _me then." Fury said, a tad bit quieter and kinder. James nodded, relived. "Oh, and Agent, please explain as you show me."

"Yes sir, of course sir." James brought up a medium sized tablet made of clear glass and a metal boarder (Stark Tech) and pressed a few buttons. "I'll explain when it shows up." He turned more towards the director as a loading symbol appeared on the red screen on the tablet. "Basically what I noticed is that a load of new domains, new spaces for sites, had suddenly been created. Now there are a ton of people registering domains all the time, but not like this. None of these sights had any listed purpose as to why they where there. All they had on them was a count down."

"What where they counting down to?" Fury asked, intrigued.

"I noticed a back door into the coding that had been left open for someone with a SHIELD password, so I entered mine in and was able to access a preview of what the sites where for. It was invisible, and it would only appear if you where able to hack through four layers of extensive coding and security. And it wasn't easy, not at all, if anyone else in my devision could get past _one _of the layers, I'll eat this tablet." James explained, gesturing slightly.

"How old are you kid?" Fury asked, slightly surprised that this average looking guy had managed to even hack that far.

"19, sir. I graduated early from MIT."

"Huh. Well kid, show me this preview." Fury said, motioning at the fully loaded program on the tablet.

"Yessir." James replied, licking his lips, his nervousness back as he pressed play.

From the top of the screen black something began to 'drip' down until every last bit of red had been covered. Everything was silent, no music, nothing. Then all of a sudden, white symbols and snaps of phrases began to flit across the screen. Fury couldn't derive any meaning from them. Alonsy? I O U? What exactly did the author mean?

"What's this?" Fury asked, fascinated.

"Sir, these symbols, they're nonsense really. What happens next is far more relevant to us." James replied, his voice slightly higher in pitch with nerves again. He didn't want to be the one to show the Director this news. Why couldn't Agent Hill or someone he remotely liked have done it?

"What happens next, Agent?" Fury had noticed the change in Jams's voice, and his own had become slightly more threatening again.

"Just watch for a moment, Director." The screen cleared of symbols, and words began to appear on the screen, as if typed with a typewriter, and each one was accompanied with the sound of a typewriter's keys clacking and the machine itself working. Director Fury stared, agog at the words that where shattering his sense of security. The message read as follows:

Hello People of this Earth

My name is not important, as it died a long time ago

xXx

What I have to share

However

Is of much more import

There are those who roam this earth

Who are

Different

xXx

We call them

Superheroes

Or in the case of one going sour

Supervillans

xXx

Today I bring your attention to the group of 'superheroes' we call

The Avengers

I hold no grudge against these

Vigilantes

These

HEROES

Their gifts are incredible

Hard earned

Hard won

xXX

They are necessary to our survival

In the case of an attack

That we mortals cannot

Protect ourselves from

xXx

We NEED them

But the General Public does not

In my opinion

Know enough about these people

xXx

Tony Stark

Iron Man

Beloved by many

With the maturity of a 5 year old

A penchant for blueberries

and a self-proclaimed

_Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist_

A genius

An inventor

And currently

_Suit-less_

He blew them all up

For a

_Miss Pepper Potts_

Sorry Tony

But you might be needing those soon

xXx

Dr. Bruce Banner

The Hulk

The _Other Guy_

He is the result of

Scientists trying to replicate

The Super Soldier Serum

The secret

To Captain America

He can control himself beautifully

But he hasn't always been able to

A General Ross used to hunt him down

Just so he could try to duplicate

The Hulk

But he has

_Breath-taking anger management issues_

The only reason he can control himself is

_He's always angry_

xXx

Captain Steve Rodgers

_The Capsicle_

He spent 70 years under the ice

His last words before plunging into the dark

Where to his

LOVE

A beautiful woman

_"We'll have the band play something slow... I'd hate to step on your-"_

She'd never get that date

Captain America

A lost soul

A soldier who is out of his time

I don't know how he'd managed

To not put a bullet in his brain

All his friends and family

Are long gone

They died believing

He was

Dead

xXx

Clint Barton

Hawkeye

Agent to an organization called

SHIELD

An assassin

One that has killed hundreds

And will kill hundreds more

He didn't always work

On the side of the angels neither

He used to be a

Sniper for Hire

Before he was

_Saved_

By an Agent named Phil Coulson

A good man

Who died in the fight against Loki

xXx

Natalia Romanova

Alias = Natasha Romanoff

Black Widow

A product of a series of experiments

In a facility known as

_The Red Room_

She was used

Abused

Had her memories stolen

And took the lives of countless

Innocents

On the orders of Soviet Russia

She's got _red in her ledger_

She would have continued in this manor

For the rest of her life

If the man who was sent to

_Kill her_

Became her

_Savior_

xXx

Thor Odinson

He doesn't need a 'superhero' name

He comes straight out of mythology

A Norse god

The God of Thunder

Wandering around Earth

Or as he calls it

_Midgard_

He comes from a beautiful place

Of gold and magic

Called _Asgard_

Haven't heard of it?

That would be because

_It isn't on Earth_

He was exiled here to learn humility

He's better than he was

So there you are

xXx

_Earths Mightiest Heroes_

BUT ARE THEY THE ONLY ONES?

**Alright, time for me to sign off. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, tell me what you think if you want to. Thank you so much for reading, it feels wonderful to me that someone actually wants to read what I write, people I've never even met! So thank you, so very much.**


	5. Fury is Furious

**Hello again lovely readers! Good to see ya! Thank you so much for reading this long, I can't express how much I love it. I mean, people I've never met are reading my writing and enjoying it! That's awesome! At least I hope you're enjoying it. :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers, or anything Marvel. **

Last Time:

_"BUT ARE THEY THE ONLY ONES"_

"What the hell was that?!" Fury was pissed. James gulped, and tried to stammer something out. Only to be cut off by Fury again, "Seriously Agent, what the _fuck _was that?!"

James gulped. This was what he'd been afraid of. "Well sir, um-"

"_Agent._" Fury growled out.

"Sir, it's a group of domains all with the same site, which we just viewed." James started shifting from foot to foot nervously, a habit he'd thought he'd kicked earlier that year. Apparently, under extreme fear and stress, not.

"How do we stop it." Fury demanded, trying to find a way out.

"Sir, we can't." The Directors head whipped and he glared rather impressively at poor James.

"What. Do. You. Mean. You. CAN'T?!" He was still growling.

"Sir, the code is far too tight. It took me a few hours to even hack through to the preview. By the time I'd gotten past the rest of the security, it'd be up and running and unstoppable." James answered, figuring that if he was clear and calm sounding enough, he just might get through this with minimal damages to his person.

"Damn. Is there anyone who could hack through faster?" Now the Director was just grasping at straws.

"Sir, I'm one of the top three coders in the world. And not even the other two could hack through this in time. The site deploys in under three hours."

Fury cursed much more fluently at that.

"Very well." He turned to the intercom for the building and turned it on.

"All Agents, this is Director Fury. We have a security breach. Find it. I don't know if we have a mole, but we must be cautious, it is possible. Be careful, and bring me the perpetrators head on a pike." James paled at the cold fury in the last statement. He sent a furtive prayer of thanks that he wasn't on the receiving end of the Directors wrath.

Fury turned back to James and dismissed him, before calling up Agent Hill. They would have a _lot _of preemptive covering up and explaining to do. The Council was never going to let him forget this shit.

He rubbed a hand over his head and sighed. It was going to be one of _those _weeks again.

**I know, it's short, the next one is coming within the week, I PROMISE. Thank you so much for all of you that are reading. Review if you want, I'd love to know what you think. See you soon!**


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